[Dysplasia of the hip and pre- and postnatal posture]

Recent publications stress the importance of exogenous or environmental factors in the aetiology and pathogenesis of dysplasia of the hip. For this reason ante- and post-natal postures were studied in detail especially intra-uterine malposition and the so-called "forced" or "adaptation decubitus" (Zwangshaltung, Schrägseite-Lage Syndrome, Congenital pelvic obliquity). Even with the data obtained from very early (neonatal) diagnosis no distinction can as yet be made between dysplasic alterations of the hip which are sometimes associated with the above-mentioned anomalies and true congenital dysplasia. Furthermore, intra-uterine malposition and consequent breech presentation would seem to be a result rather than the cause of congenital dysplasia which only rarely occurs without underlying primary hip-joint pathology.